Relations Between Sleep and Temperament in Preschool Children With ADHD

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Maria Grazia Melegari1, Stefania Sette1, Elena Vittori2

  • 1Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.

Journal of Attention Disorders
|February 23, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibit distinct temperaments linked to sleep disturbances. Temperament may be a key factor in understanding ADHD and sleep disorders in preschoolers.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Sleep Medicine

Background:

  • Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in preschoolers.
  • Sleep disturbances are frequently observed in children with ADHD.
  • Temperament, a set of innate behavioral and emotional tendencies, may influence sleep patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between temperament and sleep characteristics in preschoolers diagnosed with ADHD.
  • To compare the temperamental profiles of children with ADHD and typically developing (TD) children.
  • To identify specific temperamental traits associated with sleep disturbances in ADHD.

Main Methods:

  • Study included 25 preschoolers with ADHD and 22 TD preschoolers.
  • Sleep was objectively measured using wrist actigraphy and subjectively assessed via the Sleep Disturbance Scale.
  • Child temperament was evaluated using the Preschool Temperament and Character Inventory (PsTCI).

Main Results:

  • Preschoolers with ADHD displayed higher novelty seeking and lower persistence, self-directness, and cooperativeness compared to TD controls.
  • Harm avoidance (HA) in ADHD children was negatively correlated with wakefulness after sleep onset and sleep fragmentation.
  • HA was positively associated with sleep efficiency and total sleep time, while reward dependence negatively correlated with wake episode length.

Conclusions:

  • A significant correlation exists between temperament and sleep patterns in preschoolers with ADHD.
  • Temperament may act as an intermediate endophenotype linking ADHD and sleep disorders.
  • Understanding temperamental traits could inform interventions for sleep problems in children with ADHD.

Keywords:
ADHDactigraphypreschool childrensleeptemperament

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